Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Local Nature Recovery Strategy shows zones of the best opportunities for habitat creation or management.  As the opportunities to create wildlife habitat depend on so many factors, there are more options here than can be taken up.  

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The draft strategy consists of:

• Part 1 - Gloucestershire's Biodiversity and Opportunities for Nature Recovery

• Part 2 - Biodiversity Priorities and Potential Measures

• Priority Species List

• Interactive Local Habitat Map

 

These can all be accessed from the consultation platform.  
 

Sign up for online drop-in Local Nature Recovery Strategy consultation sessions here.  

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Working with a range of expert partners in Gloucestershire, we have developed 6 Key Messages of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy:  

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• Safeguarding, managing and enhancing existing biodiversity-rich sites

The complex ecological relationships between species in a habitat are difficult to recreate quickly once a habitat is degraded or destroyed.  With the pressure on our wildlife, the highest priority is to safeguard and enhance high quality nature sites and species populations.  Landowners and land managers who are already doing this should be supported.

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• Landscape scale connectivity - Better, bigger, more and more joined

Maintaining good wildlife habitat and then increasing the size and connectivity of these habitats.  This is the core theme of Nature Recovery as expressed in the Making Space for Nature report, with the aim of creating a resilient and coherent nature recovery network.   Recommended areas to focus new habitat creation can contribute to meeting the goal of 30 by 30 - at least 30% of land to be protected for nature recovery by 2030.

 

• Climate Emergency

Climate change is already affecting our wildlife, with temperature, rainfall and growing season changes affecting the timing of natural events such as emergence, pollination and where species can thrive.  Nature based solutions can help mitigate some impacts of climate change.  Landscape-scale nature recovery can help some species to move northwards or to new niches in response to climate changes.

 

• Our relationship with water

The need to re-naturalise our river corridors and their relationship with the floodplain, and where appropriate to remove barriers in rivers which impact on the movement of fish species and on sedimentation.  Natural flood management can also help to reduce flood risk and build resilience against drought.  We need to tackle water quality issues from both point and diffuse sources, and to protect and improve water quantity, for both surface water and groundwater. 

 

• The value of mixed and wilder habitats

Including valuing scrub as a habitat and prioritising mixed habitats with different types and heights of vegetation – this variety is so important for many of our species.

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• Biodiversity in our developments and settlements

The importance of nature in our settlements, urban areas and new developments was emphasised by participants in our public engagement sessions, as well as by other stakeholders.  Nature in amongst our urban areas and settlements is important for health and wellbeing, for nature connection, for climate change mitigation and for the connectivity of wildlife habitats.

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​​During March and April 2024, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership and independent facilitators Holding The Space ran community and public engagement sessions to help bring in a range of views and local knowledge to inform the development of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.  You can read what we heard and learned here:  Report on LNRS Community Engagement Workshops

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